Watch the videos about the effects of alcohol on the body and learn how it impacts your stomach, heart, liver and understand the relationship between alcohol and mental health, erectile dysfunction and weight gain.

Alcohol and weight gain

Alcoholic drinks contain a high number of calories, which can impact your weight. Fat, especially on men, tends to go to the belly and belly fat is more dangerous than other fats. It can can squeeze your organs, it can also release harmful chemicals into your blood and this can lead to cardio vascular disease, diabetes1 and even dementia2.

Alcohol and mental health

From anxiety to stress, alcohol can have negative effects on your mental health. Too much alcohol can change your brain's ability to stay balanced and run smoothly3. The more you drink the more your brain is affected, making you nervous and low. It can also stop you from sleeping properly, leaving you sluggish and irritable.

Alcohol and the heart

Regularly having just a couple of pints of lager can weaken your heart and shrink your arteries4. This makes it harder for blood to be pumped and pass through, which increases your blood pressure. That same pressure can lead to blood clots - which can cause strokes and brain damage.

Alcohol and the liver

Having more than just two beers or two glasses of wine in a regular basis can put your liver at risk5. The liver breaks the chemicals in the body and when it has to break down too much alcohol it struggles to do its job and can become fatty and scarred.

Alcohol and the stomach

Alcohol can negatively affect your gut. It can cause the stomach acid that's meant to break down your food to attack the lining of the stomach and the muscles that surround it. Alcohol is high in calories and carbs, so when these are washed down your gut they put it under a lot of strain. That's why you can feel bloated as your intestines try to cope. Regularly drinking too much alcohol can make you experience more severe effects like nausea, vomiting, ulcers and even stomach cancer if left untreated.

Alcohol and erectile dysfunction

Alcohol slows and prevents the release of sex hormones affecting blood flow to the penis - and this can make it harder to get and sustain an erection. Moreover, alcohol can damage the testicles over time and this can also lower testosterone levels, and harm fertility.Learn more about how alcohol can affect your sex life

3. Bellos, S., et al. (2013). "Cross-cultural patterns of the association between varying levels of alcohol consumption and the common mental disorders of depression and anxiety: Secondary analysis of the WHO Collaborative Study on Psychological Problems in General Health Care." Drug and alcohol dependence133(3): 825-831.